ANAL ZONE representatives to the sixth annual Girls' Nation, now being conducted in Washington
by the American Legion Auxiliary, are shown above shortly before sailing July 25 for the States. They
are ArBline Schmidt, left, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. A. T. Schmidt, of Balboa, who was elected Lieutenant
Governor of Caribbean Girls' State which convened at Fort Winm. D. Davis in April, and Joyce Collinge,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. RI. W. Collinge, of Balboa, who was elected Governor. Both girls are outstanding
students of Balboa High School and both take an active part in high school athletics.

Canal

Zone

Expected

School

Enrollment

Reach

New

This

All-Time

Year
High

1953 Housing Program
One Of Many Problems
Slated For Discussion
Many important decisions concerning
the various Canal operations this year,
especially those relating to the fiscal pro-
gram, were expected to be reached at the
meeting of the Board of Directors held
this week in Washington.
The meeting, which opened last Mon-
day, was attended by Governor Seybold-
his first since becoming President of the
Company. The Governor is scheduled to
return to the Isthmus this week. Also
attending the meeting was Lindsley H.
Noble, Comptroller, whose election as a
general officer of the Company was on the
July agenda.
Of the many questions slated for discus-
sion by the Board members this week,-
two of immediate interest to the average
Canal employee were the housing program
and the Panama Line operations.
The steamship line operations have
been under study now for the past several
months and reports on various phases
were scheduled for presentation to the
Board this week.
Housing Plans For 1953
The extent of this year's housing pro-
gram and the individual projects to be
undertaken as a part of the 1953 fiscal
year program probably will be announced
at an early date. Governor Seybold stated

last month after final Cong
action on the Canal Company a
Zone Government budgets that

gressional
nd Canal
the pro-

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

Slogan

Of

"Every

Member

An

Officer"

Fits

Union

Local

Of

wo

Signalmen

Every member is an officer-and that
means both of them-in Local 133 of the
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen of
America.
Spencer B. Smith is Chairman and
Tracy P. White is Secretary-Treasurer.
That's a quorum and a roster of the local.
It's the smallest local in the entire
union of signalmen in the United States
and Canada. It is also the only local
south of the Rio Grande and the smallest
union in the Canal Zone.
The local has no meeting time or place.
They meet frequently anyway. Mr.
White putt-putts over to Mr. Smith's on
his little railroad motor speeder or Mr.
Smith putt-putts over from Balboa to
Gatun to see the Secretary-Treasurer.
Or, there are times when they both putt-
putt to meet each other half way.
No Dues To Local
They pay no dues to Local 133-only to
the National Brotherhood.
If there's disagreement between mem-
bers about union business, the business
probably just doesn't come off. If one
thinks so, the other thinks not, the matter
is usually dropped.
Organizing activities are completely nil
for lack of potential members. Mr. Smith
and Mr. White are the only local railroad
men eligible for union membership.
As Signal Maintainer for the Northern
District of the 50-mile Panama Railroad,
Mr. White tends the signals to the "24-
mile," a mile north of Darien, and Mr.
Smith, Signal Maintainer for the South-
ern District, is responsible for the other
half of the line.
Local 133 was not always ro small.
When it was organized in November
1927, there were five full-fledged charter
members.
Supervisor Loses Membership
There was R. S. Wood of Ancon, a hard
worker at union business. He became
Supervisor of Railroad Signals in 1948
and withdrew in accordance with union
custom. As elder statesman without port-
folio, he is still an interested consultant
and advisor.
It was largely because of Mr. Wood,
Local 133 in 1935 became affiliated with
-Lh. '^M^ml I fh^.' m :- T tt

THIS IS LOCAL 133 of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen of America. The Signalmen are
Spencer B. Smith (left), Chairman, and Tracy P. White, (right), Secretary-Treasurer. That's all there
is to the local.

automatic flashing lights or wigwags at
grade crossings; all of which operate from
signal lines in underground cable.
Automatic Signal System
The present track circuit is gradually
being replaced with coded track in which
the track itself carries the impulses be-
tween signals, eliminating much of the
underground cable.

Chairman of Local 133 is
to the Canal Zone, having
Isthmus when he was ten
with his parents, Mr. and Mr
Smith, who now live in Gat
father is a control house s
the locks.
He became an apprentice

almost native
come to the
months old,
's. William C.
un where his
mpervisor at

railroad

*4

nalman in 1943 and became a journeyman
signal maintainer in January 1948-with
time out for service with the Air Force
during World War II.
Mr. White, who came from a railroad
family, went into the railroad business
himself in 1929 with the Maine Central
Railroad. He was employed in the signal
system of the Panama Railroad in Decem-
ber 1946.
Lifelong Zonian
Mr. Wood, who is something of a god-
father to the present Local 133, is also
almost a native. He came to the Canal
Zone when he was 11 months old when
his father, the late Joseph C. Wood, was
wnrkino' nat Emniro

August 1,1952

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Lt. Gov. Paxson Meets

Ten

ears

Ago

In

July

Civic,

Labor

Leaders

At Monthly Conference

Representatives of Canal Zone labor
and civic groups had an opportunity to
meet their new Lieutenant Governor on
July 24 and they made the most of it.
They made so much of it, in fact, that the
July session of the Governor-Employee

Conference went well over the
closing time.
The Lieutenant Governor, Col.
Paxson, conducted the conference
absence of Gov. J. S. Seybold, who

H. 0.
in the
was in

Washington to attend a meeting of the
Company Board of Directors.

At the end of the conference, which
occurred just two weeks after Lt. Gov.
Paxson's arrival in the Canal Zone and
which was concerned with a wide variety
of matters, he commented that it had been
a new and different type of orientation
for him.
"It's much better than reading papers
and documents," he said.
A number of new subjects-copra bugs,
per diem allowances, method of employee
recruitment, speed limits, the price of
moving picture admissions-were taken
up at the July meeting, as well as the
more familiar subjects such as commissary
prices, housing, civil defense, and Colon
Hospital facilities.
As usual, the conference was started
with answers to questions raised at the
nreivinus meeting and left for further

study. Among t

these were

the size of

bachelor apartments. In answer to a
question which had been raised by the
Rev. Philip Havener of the Cristobal-
Margarita Civic Council, Lt. Gov. Paxson
answered that the long-range housing pro-
gram was still unapproved and that no
final decision had been reached as to what
types of buildings, or how many, are to be
constructed. The additional cost involved
in providing a separate bedroom or under-
building garage space for the bachelor
quarters would tend to discourage any
such enlargement, he believed.
Robert Daniels, of the Railway Con-
ductors, suggested that the administration
consider the assignment to bachelors of
existing single-bedroom, four-family quar-
ters rather than to demolish such buildings

WAR TALK AND TRAINING were occupying much attention of Canal Zone residents ten years
ago, and an intensive civilian defense program was being carried forward early in 1942. The picture above
shows five pretty Canal employees being given instruction in the use of the gas mask. The instructor,
Maj. Charles H. Barth, Jr., later Brigadier General, was then Assistant Supervising Engineer of the
Special Engineering Division and was in charge of the civilian defense program. He later was transferred
to the European Theater where he became Chief of Staff in that Command. He lost his life in a plane
accident in Iceland.
The five young women students in the use of gas masks were Miss Regina Quinn, now Mrs. Tristan
Enjuto, of Panama City; Miss Katherine Adams, now Mrs. Robert Lessiack who is employed in the
Personnel Bureau; Mrs. Marjorie Clarke, then employed in the Personnel Bureau who now lives in the
States; Miss Macel Goulet, now Mrs. J. Morton Thompson, of Balboa, whose husband is employed in the
General Counsel's Office; and Mrs. Beulah W. Sandford, whose husband, G. H. Sandford, is Supervisor
of the Reproduction Plant at Diablo Heights.

War work and war talk filled the
columns of Isthmian newspapers 10 years
ago. There seemed to be little else in the
Canal Zone.
Armed forces authorities let correspond-
ents take their first look at barrage balloon
sites. The balloons could then be operated
effectively in local tricky tropical winds,
they said.
Unreliable and "capricious creatures"
a few months before, the balloons had been
converted into "a smooth-functioning air-
plant net of lethal cables that keeps constant
watch over vital Canal installations."
The Army Engineers also had a po-
nouncement. They said they were far
ahead of schedule in hewing out of virgin
jungle and raising from swampy land an
outer ring of powerful defenses-airfields,
runnn ilonnQ haorrnpk'an wnrphnimn ma. r-

The Governor warned that war-working
transportation facilities would have little
space for Canal employees and that vaca-
tions might have to go by the board.
A shipment of potatoes, eggs, and vege-
tables was welcomed by the Commissaries
and Commissary customers, who had been
without several cold storage items for
some time.
Miss Verona Herman, daughter of Cap-
tain (now Major and Chief of the Police
Division) and Mrs. George Herman, be-
came the first Canal Zone girl to be accepted
in the Women's Auxiliary Army Corps.
The Tivoli USO was formally opened
with festivities attended by more than
2,000.

1 1.~

'
rk member of Canal oldtimers was

/� f

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

Attract

Few attractions on the Isthmus have a
more universal interest for visitors than
the murals in the rotunda of the Adminis-
tration Building at Balboa Heights.
The paintings, consisting of four large
panels and a frieze, were done by W. B.
Van Ingen, of New York, at about the
time the Canal was opened in 1914 and
were placed on the walls of the rotunda
early min 1915. IIe was assisted min his

work by C. T. Berry and Ira Remsen.
The five pieces of art represent scenes
during the Canal construction period. The
four main panels are of scenes of Culebra
Cut at Gold Hill, construction of the
Gatun Spillway, erection of a lock gate,
and the construction of Miraflores Locks.
The frieze is a panorama of the excavation
of Culebra (Gaillard) Cut.
The paintings contain a wealth of de-
tail but they are more impressive for their
massive scale and the sweeping artistic
conception of the modern miracle of
building the Panama Canal.
Muralist Was Noted
Mr. Van Ingen was a painter of con-
siderable reputation before his murals for
the Administration Building were painted.
He had done several other paintings of a
similar nature for buildings in the United
States, including the Congressional Li-
brary in Washington and the United
States Mint at Philadelphia.
Sketches for the murals were made by
the artist on two visits to the Isthmus
during the latter part of the construction
period. The paintings were executed in
his New York studio and were shipped to
the Isthmus and placed on the rotunda
walls under his personal supervision.
Col. George W. Goethals, then Chair-
man and Chief Engineer of the Isthmian
Canal Commission, took a personal inter-
est in Mr. Van Ingen's work and it was
primarily through his initiative that a
contract for the murals was made with
the artist shortly before the completion
of the Administration Building in 1914.
The paintings cover nearly 1,000 square
feet of space and the contract price, in-

Era

Universal

Interest

eluding the placing of the murals, was
$25 a square foot, or nearly $25,000.
An interesting sidelight of the Canal's
early history is the correspondence con-
cerning the murals exchanged in 1913 by
Colonel Goethals and Secretary of War
Lindley M. Garrison.
Secretary Of War Writes
When the question of the paintings was
first brought to Secretary Garrison's at-
tention, he expressed some doubt as to the
advisability of spending so much money
for the art work. He wrote Colonel
Goethals, in part, as follows:
"The amount is, of course, large to
spend for decoration, unless there is some
significant reason why such an expendi-
ture is justified. Even if the Fine Arts
Commission has made a recommendation
to this effect, I suppose the responsibility
is ours, so far as justifying the expenditure
of the money.
"It occurs to me in passing that if we
insist, as I am sure we both feel we should,
that the Administration Building and
everything else on the Isthmus is second-
ary to the operation of the Canal as an
instrument of commerce, it might seem
contradictory for us to expend so large a
sum of money in a mere matter of decora-
tion. In other words, since we take the
view that everything is subordinate to
operation, it might be inconsistent to ex-
pend money as if the Zone itself were to
be a thing of interest."
Opinion Of Colonel Goethals
Colonel Goethals' opinion that the
Canal was built for the primary purpose
of benefitting world commerce was al-
ready on record and he did not touch on
this point again in his reply to Secretary
Garrison. Excerpts from his reply follow:
"For the transaction of the business of
the Canal and the Railroad, an adminis-
tration building is necessary. The site
selected and the general plans of the
building were submitted to the Commis-
sion of Fine Arts, and the location of the
building on the site was fixed to meet
their views. Since the building is a neces-

- - - -t.

sity for the operation of the Canal, it
should be made creditable min every re-

spect, not only to the Canal but to the
United States. It may be called the
Capitol of the Zone.
"With the exception of the rotunda,
there will be practically no ornamentation
of the building of any kind and it is ex-
pected to make this the feature of the
building and to be attractive to all who
will come to the Zone for business or
other purpose. The cost of the building
contemplated some decoration of the na-
ture described and follows in this respect
the practice of practically all Government
buildings in the States. The advisability
and propriety of this work I have never
doubted. The expense was anticipated
when it was determined to make this
THE building in the Zone."
In his letter, Colonel Goethals explained
further details about the proposed con-
tract with Mr. Van Ingen and a short
time later received Secretary Garrison's
full approval of the project.

Canal Receives

Thanks

"Courier

An expression of a
received from the I
for the cooperation o:
tion during the rece
the Isthmus by the
floating transmitter,
Coast Guard Cutter,
Special mention o:

"Visit Aid

appreciation has been
departmentt of State
f the Canal organiza-
nt goodwill visit to
Voice of America's
the United States

Courier.
f the assistance ren-

dered by the Canal organization during
the Courier's visit several weeks ago was
made in a letter from the Secretary of
State to the Secretary of Defense.
"It would be appreciated if this ex-
pression of thanks for assistance rendered
were conveyed to the Commanding
General of the Caribbean Command, the
Governor of the Canal Zone, and their
respective staffs," the letter stated.
The message was forwarded to Gover-
nor Seybold by Maj. Gen. F. L. Parks,
Chief of Information of the Department
of the Army. In his letter to the Gover-
nor, General Parks said in part:
"I want to take this opportunity to
express the appreciation of the Depart-
ment of the Army and to extend my own
congratulations on the accomplishment of
a job well done."
Canal Zone School Enrollment This Year
Ir. V.mna.anJ T. D....L -.... ll T.-. II-L

Murals

Construction

August 1,1952

August 1,1952

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

FOR YOUR INTER

Shipboard Safety

Safety

inm the

Navigation

Aids to Navigation Section

two categories:

The safety

Division and
s divided into
of the ship

during its transit of the Panama Canal and
safety of the employees handling the ship.
The pilot has more personal responsibility
for the safety of the ship during the transit
as a whole than any other employee in the

Panama Canal Company.

divisions have

Of course, other

responsibility, but theirs is

more that of a team,.
The pilot is usually alone on the bridge,

except

for the ship's

officers.

From

minute he sets foot on the bridge until he
leaves at the end of the transit, he must be
constantly on the alert for those dangers,
which not only are typical of those at sea,
but for those which he encounters only

while transiting the Canal.

Occasionally,

when the ship is tied up to a lock wall he can

the locks.
the size of
only eight
twenty me

IDENT

PREVENTION

The size of the ship determines

this group. A small ship

men,

requires

a large ship from sixteen to

mn, all under the direct supervision

a boatswain.

It is the ship's duty to furnish a pilot's
ladder, or an accommodation ladder, which
is a flight of steps with a platform at the

bottom.

In addition, the ship must furnish

lines and cables to tie the ship up to a pier or

lock wall.

There

are rules and regulations

with which a ship must comply before being

allowed to transit the Canal.

The pilot has

the authority not to board, or move a ship,
which does not in his estimation comply
with these rules and regulations, but more
than likely the ship has been through the
Canal before, and unsafe conditions are the
result of unexpected causes, which do not
become apparent until an emergency arises
min transit.
The pilot has tugs at his disposal and to
aid him radio telephone and signal stations

DANIEL H. RUDGE
Inspector, Navigation Division

relax and have a cup of coffee.

Even there,

he cannot leave the bridge for he must be
ready to proceed when the way is cleared
His problems are those of bad weather,

floods,

contrary

currents,

and those

re-

suiting from a big ship, a heavily loaded
ship, or an unbalanced cargo. Old unreliable
engines, slow to reverse, or rudder mecha-
nism failures at critical moments often make
safety for the ship a matter of how quickly
the pilot and crew can act in an emergency,.

In addition to the pilot,

a group of local-

rate employees are placed aboard to handle
ropes and cables, which are attached to the
ship from time to time to guide it through

along the route.

The Aids to Navigation

Section maintains additional aids to naviga-

tion such as channel,

buoys.

range

lights, and

Some of these lights are many miles

up and down the coast on each side of the
Isthmus from the entrances of the Canal.
The salvage tug Taboga and craneship Toro
often make trips to sea to help a ship in

distress, or service a light belonging

Coast Guard.

to the

Others who give aid to the

pilot, while he is transiting on a ship, are

the Assistant Port Captains,

and Dispatchers

Harbormas-

who control

movement and disposition of ships

as they are in Canal waters.

launches,

agents,

HONOR

Bureau Award For
BEST RECORD
June

ENGINEERING

which

passengers,

transport

supplies,

having business on board ship.

as long

There are also

pilots,

crews,

and others
Two of these

launches make trips from Balboa to Taboga
daily for the convenience of tourists and
swimmers.

the pilot and other employees must have in
order to insure the safe transit of all ships in
their care, there is also the training and
experience all employees must have to pro-
tect themselves from the loss of life and

limb.

With the sea so near

to their daily

lives, and the sometime hazardous condi-
tions encountered in their regular work, all
employees must be taught to recognize these

dangers and

how to protect

themselves.

They are also taught first aid and rescue,
for it is important that all employees, from
the lowest to the highest, know and practice
this safety training, since there is always the
possibility that any one of them may be

called upon,to

save a life from drowning,

serious injury.
Also wherever practical, the unsafe con-
ditions on board a ship are removed, or
remedied, to insure both a safe transit for
the ship and safety for the employees who

navigate
units. ha\

the ship.

The fact

consistently

that these

improved

safety record, in spite of such hazardous and

dangerous conditions encountered,

points to

an active and progressive safety program
among the employees of the Navigation
Division and'Aids to Navigation Section.

Due to the retirement of Francis F. Hargy, safety
representative for the Marine Bureau, Charles T
Jackson has been appointed to fill the vacancy.

ROLL

their

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

1953 Housing Program One Of Many
Problems Slated For Discussion
(Continued from page 1n other Company-
Government operations for this fiscal year
are still under study. Final allocation of
funds, as approved in the appropriations
measure, will be made at an early date,
according to an announcement by the
Comptroller before his departure for
Washington last month.
Alterations Are Required
Alterations in the Canal's fiscal pro-
gram this year have been required in part

by the refusal of
"non-reimbursabl
$1,676,300 as con
quest. Although
amount was appr
that it be listed
Government net

Congress to approve as
e" items the sum of
gained in the budget re-
the expenditure of this
oved, Congress directed
with other Canal Zone
expenditures as being

reimbursable to the U. S. Treasury by the

Panama Canal Company.
In view of the many complicated prob-
lems relating to the Canal's fiscal policies
and program for this year the meeting of
the Board of Directors this month was
one of the most important held since the
formation of the Panama Canal Company
in July of last year. Most of these fiscal
problems are of a continuing nature al-
though their importance was heightened
at the July meeting of the Board by the
necessity of making full plans for the cur-
rent fiscal year on the allocation of funds
for various operations under this year's
budget.
Officers To Be Elected
Among the various items of business at
the Board's meeting this week was the
election of two general officers of the
Company-the Comptroller and Secre-
tary. The election of the Comptroller

was required by a change in the Com-
pany's bylaws at the Board's meeting in
April which provided for the establish-
ment of the office of the Comptroller as a
general officer instead of the Finance
Director.
Mr. Noble's appointment as Comp-
troller was made soon after the position
was established. He was formerly em-
ployed as Comptroller of the Atomic
Energy Commission. He arrived on the
Isthmus early in June after about three
weeks of duty in the Canal's Washington
Office.
The election of a new Secretary of the
Company was required by the recent
resignation of James C. Hughes to accept
a position with another Government
agency. Since his resignation, W. M.
Whitman, Attorney of the Canal Com-
pany in Washington, has been acting as
Secretary of the Company.

Cardenas

Site

w

ork

Over

ne-

Third

Done

Approximately 1,000,000 cubic yards of
earth are being moved in the major
clearing and grading job required in the
preparation of the new local-rate townsite
of Cardenas.
The work is being done under contract
by Macco-Panpacific, Inc., at a cost of
$1,225,000. It is the second largest
project of the 1952 housing program on
the Pacific side.
The contract was awarded last Febru-
ary in two parts, one for the clearing and
grading of approximately 175 acres of
hilly and heavily wooded land north of
Corozal; and another for the installation
of an access road from Gaillard Highway,
construction of two large water tanks, and

the provision of sewerage and drainage
facilities.
The contract completion date of the
project is next May and the work is on
schedule with more than one-third already
completed. The Contracts and Inspection
Division is supervising the administration
of this contract under the direction of
C.A. Behringer, Pacific Area Project In-
spector. The other inspectors are Charles
P. Morgan, R. J. Mahoney, and Francisco
A. Lopez.
New Highway To Town
A new reinforced concrete highway is
being built to the new townsite from
Gaillard Highway. The new road leaves
the main highway a short distance from
the existing entrance to Corozal Hospital.

Paving of the new road has already been
started and the roadbed has been graded
and ballasted for its full length of about
three quarters of a mile.
Because of the nature of the terrain, a
large storm drainage structure is being
installed. It is slightly over one mile in
length. The contractor also is installing
a large sanitary sewer, 4,230 feet in length,
which will connect with Cardenas River
north of Gaillard Highway.
Two 250,000-gallon capacity water
tanks, each, are being erected at the new
townsite. The footings and foundations
for these tanks have been poured and the
contractor is now engaged in placing the
forms for the tank walls.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Letters containing inquiries, suggestions,
criticisms, or opinions of a general nature
will be welcomed. Those of sufficient interest
will be published but signatures will not be
used unless desired.
SUBSCRIPTIONS-$ 1.00 a year
SINGLE COPIES-5 cents each
On sale at all Panama Canal Clubhouses,
Coroatnsaries, and Hotels for 10 days after
publication date.
SINGLE COPIES BY MAIL-10 cents each

BACK COPIES-10 cents each
On sale when available, from the Vault
Clerk, Third Floor, Administration Building,
Balboa Heights.
Postal money orders should be made pay-
able to the Treasurer, Panama Canal Com-
pany, and mailed to the Editor, THE
PANAMA CANAL REVIEw, Balboa Heights,
C.Z.

TO SUSCRIBERS
Please notify us promptly of any change in your
mailing address. Post Offices everywhere have pre-
pared postal card forms for notices of changes of
address.

THE EDITOR'S MAIL

Editor, THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW:
May I suggest that you start a movement to
send the Commissary Division calendars to

widows of retired employees?

Many of them

have expressed their desire for it and feel the
loss of it keenly when the head of the household
has passed on.
After all, the wives of Canal employees played

A VISIT TO GORGAS HOSPITAL was made by Brig. Gen. Don Longfellow, Health Director, facing
camera in picture above, soon after his arrival in the Canal Zone. General Longfellow was accompanied
on his trip through the hospital by Col. Clifford G. Blitch, Superintendent of the Hospital (left, above),
and Miss Beatrice H. Simonis, Chief Nurse. They visited briefly with various patients during their trip
through the wards. They are shown above examining the medical chart of Howard Smith, patient, who
is also an employee at the hospital in the Laboratory.

Assignments to the houses now under
construction in Diablo Heights in the
area between Walker Avenue and Diablo
Road will be made before the houses are
actually ready for occupancy to elimi-
nate the time lag which has formerly
elapsed between the assignment and
occupancy of quarters.
Applications for these houses-the
duplexes and the cottages-will be ac-
cepted up to August 29.
The only applications which will be
considered in making the assignments
will be those which refer specifically to
this group of houses in Diablo Heights-
either new applications or old applica-
tions which have been amended to re-
quest a specific house or type of house
in this area.
The houses are expected to be ready
for occupancy as they are compleftd,

in early October and con-
p to about November 10. It is
that construction will have
to the point by early Septem-
potential occupants may in-
houses and make application
nitharn* r� 4t~rna

starting
tinuing u
expected
advanced
ber that
spect the

will be made only upon the request of
the employer for apprentices in craft
programs approved by Selective Service
headquarters in each State.
Approximately 175 classified employees of
the Company-Government who had been in
temporary status because of provisions of
the Whitten Amendment have been con-
verted to permanent status. The transfer
was possible because of the recent changes
in the Whitten rider which delegate certain
responsibilities to affected agencies, rather
than to the Civil Service Commission.
Employees on permanent status are eligi-
ble for retirement benefits; those on tempo-
porary status are not so eligible. The
conversion to permanent status of those
employees who were qualified and eligible
was started by the Personnel Bureau in July
and was completed late in the month. In
addition 21 employees whose position grades
had been held at lower levels because of
time-in-grade requirements have been pro-
moted to higher grades.
The Whitten Amendment, which has been
attached to a number of appropriations
h-il I . onn t- In n-ri t t-x1 1 raa- 1It n^f suna ZTlfnraQ n

OF CURRENT INTEREST

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1

1952

Nylon first time since the public first learned
Nyoes to love this first synthetic "miracle"
Down fabric, there's enough on the market
to push prices down to near their
natural level.
Soon after nylon made its debut before an

impressed

came

buying public,

along and took it

the Nazis and Fascists.

World War II

away

to help fight

The young ones around
long for grade schools, uni'

But before
typewriters,

books and blouses to Ibuv.

Since

shoes

will be off before children's shoes

versit

ies, and high

they go there'll be
oxfords and anklets,

are a must that head many

lists of things to be bought for the school

Shoes

crowd, the Wholesale Shoe

Section

offers these facts about footwear for

Schoo children for the benefit of the parents
who buy them.

Top quality and sturdiest of chil
oes are those of welt construction.

welt is, in effect, a strip

both the

are the "stitch-down

which the shoe upper i
stitched down to the sole.

's, in

s turned out and
Commissary shoe

people guesstimate that 90 percent of the
children's shoes sold, here and elsewhere, are
stitch-down's.
It is a simple type of construction which
makes a flexible and comfortable shoe.

Commissaries

have a wide

in this kind of shoes which

from $2.

dren's

of leather to which

shoe upper and the sole

are sewed,

giving the shoe strength and durability and
holding it in shape.
Children's shoes of this type in Canal

Commissaries

range

They include
toe oxfords at

the Commnissa

"Trim

Foot,"

in price from $4.45 to
S"Pro-tek-tiv's," nmoc-

$8.25

rnes; "Mo'
morlassin i

plain oxfords at $5.45 and
Bonnet,' tip oxfords and

, the best sold in
dcern Age" and
toe, saddle, and
$5.50; and "Blue

straps

at $4.45.

The price variations on welt construction

shoes

reflect

workmanship.

Shoes

similar

Trences
quality

in leather

y-but primarily

for girls because of their lighter and daintier

appearance-are
on with cement.
Those of this t

those with

ype

primarily for girls,
which are priced atl

soles fastened

in Canal Commissaries,

are straps and sandals
$4 to $5.50.

The most popular and least costly of

range

range in

$3.75.

Golfing demons can work the kinks out of

their games with knitted

new in the

practice

stores.

Native fresh rhubarb and leeks
being sold in the Commissaries. T

Rhubarb-
It's
Fresh
plants are a

New for

golf balls,

are now

were

recently purchased for the first
time by the Commissary Divi-
sion from a grower in Chiriqui
Province, with whom these

Snew crop and

automobiles

which check mileage and

a new enterprise.

are:

Gasometers
auto bottle-

warmers which plug into cigarette lighters;
universal hubcaps which fit any car; window

rattle

eliminators;

initials that

auto crests

cost 30 cents for the gold

and 15 cents for each initial to

buggy

a plutocrat among

cars.

The price on nylon is now
looks, launderability, and w

make your

as nice as its

ear.

For the

of styles

When nylon came back from its war-time
career the ladies clamored to buy it-for
themselves and their husbands and grandpas
and children who had all found a use for the
fabric.
The buyers who strain to provide for the
public whatever the public will pay for bid up
the price for the available supply which
never quite caught up with the demand.

Then came the Korean

facturers made more and more nylon to fill,

or anticipate,
didn't absorb

wartime orders.
all the nylon that

war uses
was made

and a lot of it fell back on civilian markets.
In terms of prices in Panama Canal Cornm-

missari
means

es the consequent drop in prices
that nylon dresses that formerly sold

are now priced at $5.50,

in price on blouses,

for about $8.50
with similar dr

lingerie, and hose.

Arriving in the Commissaries in August
will be new blouses, skirts, and dresses in the
Back-to-School 3- to 6- and 7- to 14-size
Back-to-School ...se

groups-just

going-back-to-school girls.
And for those who will be leaving for
school in the States, the Commissaries will
have coats, sweaters, and hats for girls, and
gabardine topcoats, among others, for boys

in the

teen-age group.

"Liquid Smoke," a new barbecue sauce
in the Commissaries, is as good for beans and
other vegetables as it is to give spare ribs and
other barbecues a new kind of zip,

Cash

Sale

System

Inaugurated

In

Three

Atlantic

Side

Local-Rate

Commissaries

5212

I. P. No.

-........................- -....g -

Limit

The employee may authorize wholly dependent. legal members rf his im-
mediate family residing with him, such as his wife and minor children, to pur-
chase in his name by designating them in the spaces Indicated
For the Prealdent:

Youngsters from 5 to 18 wind up this
month a summer of fun in the third Sum-
mer Recreation Program organized for the
entire Canal Zone.
This year, fathers too, and pets and
dolls and even mothers' hats, dresses, and
high-heeled shoes played a part in the
activities.
Fathers and sons pitted skills against
each other in father and son horseshoes,
one of the special events emphasized in
this year's playground program. "Me and
My Dog Day" gave Bowser his place in
the fun.
Small fry sirens modeled their own
creations in feminine headgear in a Little
Ladies' Hat Show. Then there have been
Hobo Day, on the opening day of the U.S.
rate activities June 16; a pet show; a
scavenger hunt and other special activities.
Before the U. S.-rate program closes
August 30, there will be more special
events in addition to the many arts,
crafts, and sports activities which form
the backbone of the program this year as
in the past.
Youngsters in local-rate communities
have had their traditional scooter derby
and in inter-playground tournaments
have played championship matches in
basketball, volleyball, swimming, base-
ball, track, and softball. There have also
been domino, checkers, archery, and
shuffleboard tournaments.
Square-dancing, sewing, handicrafts,
weight-lifting, boxing, skating, and even
jacks also provided entertainment and
instruction for children in the local-rate
programs, which opened June 11 and
closed August 1.
The arts and crafts program, a com-
munity Chest function, is directed by the
Canal Zone Recreation Committee. Mrs.
G. O. Parker served for the second year as
coordinator of the program in the U. S.-
rate communities and E. Stanley Loney
was coordinator, for the third year, of the
local-rate program.
The playground program was under the
general supervision of G. C. Lockridge,
director of the Physical Education and
Recreation Branch of the Schools Division.

NO PHASE OF THE SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAM attracts more enthusiasm than
boxing. The two young hopefuls above are William Brownie, 9, left, and Randolph Sealey, 8, right,
receiving instructions at the Santa Cruz Gymnasium in Gamboa from Phillip Walker. The boxing in-
structor is one of many volunteer workers in the summer recreation program who give many hours of
their time. The gymnasium was crowded with many boxers when this picture was taken.

FLOWER MAKING attracts all age groups. Even a few boys lose their timidity and take instruc-
tions in this phase of the summer recreation program. The volunteer instructor for this group of flower-
makers shown above is Isoline Medrick, center, who is showing Violet Reid at her left how to make a
paper rose. Many examples of the work of the class are displayed on the table.

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

Everybody

Some

Talks

People

About

Do

The

Something

About

It

Water makes the Panama Ca
and the Canal's Meteorological
drographic Branch budgets the
it will safely transit ships from
ocean, fill Isthmian faucets, 1
Canal Zone, and run its hoi
toasters.
The weather and water men
not a woman in the unit-also
authoritative information for I
large part of the population i

nal work
and Hy-
water so
ocean to
ight the
ists and

-there is
furnish
the very
vho talk

about the weather or do something about it.
Ringing telephones at the Balboa
Heights headquarters or Cristobal station
may announce a housewife who wants to
know if she should hang out her wash; an
Isaak Walton inquiring about the water
temperature in Panama Bay; or a ship
captain who asks if there were an earth-
quake at 2:10 a. m. on July 30-if not, his
ship must have hit an obstruction, he
explains.
Or the caller may be a Dredging Divi-
son official who wants to know about the
tide level in the bay; an obscure fact
fancier who is curious about the average
humidity at 3 a. m.; or the people after
people who seek assurance that it is un-
usually hot or dry or wet or windy.
Weather Over 1,300 Square Miles
Most of the answers come originally

from ink wiggles recorded on
by instruments at weather re(
tions spread over more than 1
miles of Isthmus covered
weather work-meteorolog
graphy, seismology, and clima
There's a lot of water in t

rainy season t
takes a lot to
much there is
prevent either
the primary qu
Meteorological
to supply the a
Back in the I

ropical down
run the Cana
and what to d
flood or wate
estions for wh
and Hydrogra
answer.

ush as far as 3

)(
1.
r
ci

5
1C

K

graph paper
cording sta-
,300 square
by Canal
y, hydro-
tology.
his area of
ours and it
SJust how
With it to
famine are
*h there is a
)hic Branch
miles from

the Canal channel, hydrographers travel
by launch, cayuco, and pack mules or
trudge long jungle trails on foot to find
out how much water there is and how
much can be expected.
That is the question which hydro-
graphic people labor constantly to reduce
to reliable facts which they must have to
beat floods to the draw and at the same
time assure sufficient water for all Canal
needs.
Must Meet Water Needs
Among the water expenditures, there
are some fixed obligations that must be
met-come high or low water. The first
of these is the business of shuttling ships
from ocean to ocean.
It takes 7$ million cubic feet (a cubic
foot is about 7$ gallons) of water to lock
a ship through the Canal-or 157 million
for an average day of 21 lockages.
When that is used, it is gone forever
from Gatun Lake, the main storage basin
that forms 28 miles of the ship channel
between Gatun and Pedro Miguel Locks
and is the real heart of the lock-type
Panama Canal. Madden Lake serves as
an auxiliary reservoir for Gatun Lake.
Another heavy water expenditure goes
for hydroelectric power. The Gatun
Hydroelectric Plant at Gatun Dam uses
an average of 2,500 cubic feet per second.
Water used at the Madden Hydroelectric
Plant at Madden Dam-about 1,700
cubic feet per second-runs on down into
Gatun Lake, where it is used over again.
Losses By Evaporation Heavy
About 47 cubic feet of water every
second goes into Isthmian faucets for
drinking water and Saturday night baths.
Another 700 cubic feet per second dis-
appear into thin air by evaporation and
22 more cubic feet per second leak out of
the lock chambers.
Which all goes to show that there's a
lot of water that doesn't go over the dams.

a - ~ I

THIS "WEATHERMAN" at work is James
Thompson, Jr., Engineering Aid, again, hitting the
jungle trail that takes him to remote weather stations
to gather the statistics on which the Canal water
"budget" is based.

Between elevation 82 feet (the lowest that
provides a minimum depth of 40 feet in
the Canal), and 87 feet, Gatun Lake holds
22y� billion cubic feet of usable water-
enough to supply the entire city of New
York for six months.
Madden Lake holds 28 billion cubic feet
when it is full, practically all of which is
usable.
With that much water to start with,
the budgeting of the available supply
seems simple enough-the object being to
store the rain that runs into the lakes
during the rainy season and use it during
the four or five months of dry season. But
there are complications.
When hnth laroa r )Q frll *Q 4-hvr .

Weather-

August 1,1952

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

W. H. ESSLINGER, Chief Hydrographer in charge of the Meteorological and Hydrographic Branch,
and his assistant, T. C. Henter, left, are shown here with some of the weather equipment in the headquarters
office at Balboa Heights.
On the desk is a quadruple register which records wind direction and velocity, sunshine, and rain.
The tall old barograph, flanked by two barometers in the background, was inherited from French Canal
diggers and is known to have been in constant operation since the 1880's.

-operation with safety. Only the spillway
gates can be used quickly.
In an extreme emergency, about
300,000 cubic feet of water per second
could be poured out of the lake-if all 14
spillway gates were open and if Canal
traffic were stopped and the water were
spilled out through the emergency dams
at the locks and the huge lock culverts
which ordinarily supply water for lockages.
When the rains pour and the rivers rage
up in the hills of the continental divide,
Houston Esslinger, who heads the Mete-
orological and Hydrographic Branch, the
first-hand observers on the spot and the
men who man the gates and valves could
wish they had been postmen or bus drivers.
Many Floods At Night
Floods have a habit of happening at
night and they can't be stuffed in desk
drawers until morning. So the midnight
oil burns and telephone messages of in-
formation from the field and instructions
from Balboa Heights shuttle back and
forth until the danger is past.
In the dry season it's just the opposite.
When the water is being used too fast the
"budget" has to be adjusted by economy

rainfall and river gauging stations over a
large piece of the Isthmus. Most of the
weather outposts are located within the
confines of the huge oval-shaped ridge
that roughly encloses the 1,300 square
miles of territory from which water runs
into Gatun and Madden Lakes-the
Gatun Lake Basin.
Rainfall observations are collected from
50 stations in the Canal Zone and Panama,

BALBOA
August 15th

34 of which have automatic recorders
from which statistics in wiggle form on
graph paper are gathered. There are
eight river stations on the rivers that run
into Gatun Lake.
Trips to gather statistics from weather
outposts start from the Madden Dam sta-
tion where Charles Howe, Hydraulic En-
gineer, is in charge of the field work of the
Meteorological and Hydrographic Branch.
He is assisted by Engineers Jim Million
and Elmer Kanz, seven engineering aids
and 25 local-rate cayuco men, motorboat
operators, observers, and helpers.
Palancamen Are Used
To get to the San Miguel station, for
instance, some 9 miles above the upper
tip of Madden Lake, an engineer and
three local-rate "palancamen" (from pa-
lanca, the pole used to push a cayuco
through the water) set out by launch
across Madden Lake.
They have cayucos in tow and carry
food and clothing for three days to a week
(and might need more in event of a flood),
a current meter, tool kit, and ink and
graph paper to maintain weather instru-
ments at the outposts.
From the head of navigation on the
lake, an hour of poling their cayucos takes
them to the Candelaria River Station on
the Pequeni River. A local-rate observer
is stationed here-and also at the Chico
Station on the Chagres River-to keep a
constant watch on the river.
At Candelaria the engineer removes the
record of river heights from a recording
gauge housed in a little 35-foot perpen-
dicular tower that rests on a level with
the river bottom and reaches up toward
the trees on the river bank.
To measure the amount (See page is)

nm * *u ~?. - -...

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

ANNIVERSARIES

Employee- who observed important anni-
versaries during the month of July are listed
alphabetically below. The number of years
includes all ()overnment service with the
Canal or other agencies. Those with con-
tinuous service with lie Canal are indicated
with (*).
41 YEARS

Joseph C.
Atlantic Locks.

Hannigan,

Lockmaster,

41 YEARS

Ossa,
)ivision-.

LAca I

Agent,

40 YEARS

ell,

Assistant

Foreman

Chief,

Stevedore,

35 YEARS

George W. Smith, Property and
Control Clerk, Pacific Locks.
Randolph N. Trower, General For
Dredging Division.

(Continued from page 3) overhaul time.
Mr. Hoffmeyer questioned what he
termed the "unofficial recruitment" of
employees for certain types of work. They
come to the Canal Zone at their own ex-
pense and are hired here. They fail to
understand why employees recruited in
the United States are entitled to provi-
sions of Public Law 600 while employees
hired locally are not.
Edward A. Doolan, Personnel Director,
and Forrest G. Dunsmoor, Administrative
Assistant to the Governor, pointed out
that personnel for certain types of work is
available locally; the administration has
no authority for States recruitment of this
group. The administration, they said, is
not responsible for paying the travel ex-
penses of someone who has been told by a
friend that there are jobs which he might
get if he comes to the Isthmus.
Lt. Gov. Paxson agreed to take up with
the Health Bureau the question of the
copra bugs which are believed to come
from ships and are a nuisance in towns
along the Canal. He will also discuss with
the new Health Director, Brig. Gen. Don
Longfellow, the matter of facilities at
Colon Hospital.
Just before the meeting adjourned,
Charles W. Hammond, Chairman of the
General Committee of Civic Councils,
asked for a later answer on the future of
Corozal and the disposition of the present
town of Pedro Miguel and its residents.
Employee representatives attending the
conference were: Andrew Lieberman of
the Marine Engineers; Walter Wagner,
Owen J. Corrigan, Mr. Hoffmeyer, Mr.
Tobin and Mr. Hatchett of the Central
Labor Union-Metal Trades Union; Mr.
Kiley of the Pacific Locks Association;
Rufus Lovelady and H. J. Chase of the
AFGE; Mr. Daniels of the Railway Con-
ductors; Mr. Hammond, of the General
Committee of Civic Councils; Mrs. Bron-
son Rigby of the Pacific Civic Council;
Rev. Havener of Cristobal-Margarita;
Raymond Ralph of Gatun, and William
H. Ward of Gamboa.

Everybody Talks About The Weather-
Some People Do Something About It
(Continued from page 11) of water in the
river, he raises himself up to the cable car
that runs across the river and from this
perch takes soundings of the depths at
five or ten-foot intervals across the river.
How Streams Are Measured
Then he dons headphones, lowers his
.".
current meter into the water and clocks
the clicks made by a certain number of
revolutions of the windmill-like cups of
the meter. The current is then clocked at
two different depths at each of his meas-
ured intervals across the river.
From computations of the size of the
blocks of water measured off in the river
and the speed of the current, the amount
of water passing a certain point is figured.
Then, using the recorded gauge height
and the slope of the river, so-called dis-
charge curves are drawn by weather sta-
tisticians in the headquarters office which
show the amount of water in the entire
range of the river.
Then, when the measurements are made
and the curve plotted, a flood shifts the
sand and rock and changes the shape of
the river bottom so the computations
must be started at the beginning again.
And this is a continuous process.
Floods Are Measured
To measure a river at flood stage, the
engineer must get up the river before the
flood happens (you can't pole a cayuco in
a flood) wait until it occurs, get the meas-
urements, and get out when the water
goes down.
Back to the engineer at Candelaria.
He and his palancamen stay there over-
night and start out in cayucos the next
morning for a two-hour trip up the
Pequeni. They turn at the San Miguel
River and follow it to the beginning of
the climbing trail on which they walk for
several hours to the San Miguel Station,
1,700 feet above sea level.
There, they remove from the rainfall
recorder its graphed statistics and put it
in good order for the month ahead and hit

the trail back fo
stay overnight
Madden Station
Other weather

r Candelaria, where they
before returning to the
Information comes into
r information comes into

dear to many hear
Those who play
field for matches at
Mount Hope Stad
old time Panama
* 1it* I f

ts in the Canal Zone.
the game and line the
La Boca Ball Park and
ium include both the
Canal diggers who
11i "I t .2j- T -* -

brought cr(icket irom me West indies to
the Canal Zone and the younger genera-
tion who have also caught the American
enthusiasm for baseball.
In recent years the younger group has
taken more and more to baseball but
cricket holds its own as one of the major
attractions on sports calendars in all
local-rate Canal communities.
The Canal Zone version of the "gentle-
, " - - AX f lt

man s game
version only
trimmings.

game

that has

Srefierd irom
i a few of the
1 in all, it's tt

been played

ne Dhriishn
traditional
he same old
d since the

Middle Ages.
The white cricket uniform of flannel
trousers and silk shirts, that has come
down from its blue blood originators, has
given way in the Canal Zone to clothing
more fitting for strenuous exercise in the
tropics.
The local umpire also often adds an
"elephant hunter" hat to his traditional
white duck "duster."
In the British and traditional game,
there is tea between the long-drawn-out
mnmnings (after ten men on a team have
been out). At the end of the two or three-
day matches, of the type played in inter-
national competitions, there is a gathering
at which there are speeches and toasts
honoring both winners and losers.
When opponents fraternize after a
match, it's a gentlemanly gathering of
friends, just as it was in early times when
cricket was first played on castle grounds.
Cricket hospitality, Canal Zone style,
omits the traditional tea. It's more of a
banquet plus a family reunion when local
cricketers get together.
When the La Boca eleven play at
Mount Hope, they are met with to-do at
the station, to be escorted to the playing
field-the pitch. After the match, dinner
is laid out at the home of a home-town
team member. Then a party follows to

THE LA BOCA CRICKET CLUB, three-time Canal Zone champions, is shown here with Umpire
John Tudor (back left). The team members who played in the match with the team from the HMS
Sheffield, are left to right, back row: Van McLeod, Kenneth Brathwaite, E. Belgrave, Alfred Bowen,
Christopher Greaves, Leonard Roberts, A. Williams. Front row: M. Forde, Captain; Marcus Grannum,
James Lord, Edgar Roberts, and E. Wiltshire.

make anyone forget the most wicked
battle at the wickets.
Canal Zone cricket aficionados say the
local game has benefited from the influ-
ence of baseball-particularly in the qual-
ity of the fielding. This view, however,
has been questioned warmly by visiting
British cricketers. But whatever the
effect on cricket skills. many voung men

on Car
stand
In o
Gambe

ial Zone cricket teams are also out-
ng in baseball.
ne respect, cricket is the same-in
a, Oxford, or Sydney. The um-

pires call the plays and what
goes without boos or bouquets
grandstand. It isn't cricket to
a decision or show undue feeling
game or its outcome.

they say
from the
question
about the

The ethics of cricket are a most revered
tradition with followers of the English
national game.
There are small points of etiquette that
might seem strange to followers of base-
ball. When a bowler bowls a very good
ball (like the pitcher, in baseball language)
or a batsman smothers a "yorker," he is
politely applauded by his opponents, in
and out of the stands. On the other hand,

On the Pacific side, 98 players on six
teams fight it out on Sunday afternoons
from January to May. The teams are the
La Boca, Clovelly, Ancon, Red Tank,
Spartan, and Gamboa Cricket Clubs
(usually called just "C. C.'s").
There are 171 players in eight cricket
clubs on the Atlantic side, that sound like
Merrie Olde England. They are the
Excelsior, Fenwicks, Midland, Surrey,
Moreland, Rainbow City, Wanderers, and
Sussex C. C.'s. They play from January
to July.
The Atlantic Cricket Board of Control
serves as the regulatory body for that
side of the Isthmus. The members are:
Sidney Anderson, President; Charles
Davis, Vice President; B. Clarke, Secre-
tary-Treasurer; S. Cross, Assistant Secre-
tary-Treasurer; and George Newton and
Harold Clarke.
The Pacific Cricket Council, in charge
of cricket on the Pacific side, consists of
Hilton D. Perkins, President; William
Griffith, Vice President; and Roy Best,
Secretary-Treasurer.
The playoffs for the Canal Zone cham-
pionship will be held this month, with

.. ........
.
...
.
..

August 1,1952

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

Most

Former

Are

Canal

Broken

Traffic

In

Past

Records

12-Month

Period

Although many new records were set in
commercial traffic through the Canal
during the past fiscal year, which ended
June 30, total traffic failed by more than
450 transits to equal the all-time high of
9,586 transits established in the fiscal
year 1946.
The chart on this page shows the fluctu-
ations of Canal traffic, both of commercial
shipping and total traffic during the past
14-year period. It was during this period
that ocean-going commercial traffic
reached its lowest and highest levels since
the close of World War I.

Last fiscal year was the fourth time in
the Canal's operating history that ocean-
going commercial traffic exceeded 6,000
transits and the second time when total
transits exceeded the 9,000-mark.
The heavy traffic in the fiscal year 1946,
composed chiefly of tolls-free vessels, re-
sulted from the mass movement of ship-
ping in the Pacific to the Atlantic after
the close of World War II.
New Records Last Year
Several new traffic records were set by
commercial shipping through the Canal
during the past year. A new monthly
record of 613 ocean-going commercial
vessels was set in March, only to be
broken two months later by the 622 trans-
its in May. New monthly records also
were established on the amount of tolls,
cargo shipments, and net tonnage of
vessels.

Yearly records were established in the
number of transits, net tonnage of vessels,

and cargo tonnage.
The new record in cargo ton
year was established as the result
commodity shipments from the
to the Pacific. The tonnage of co
shipments in this direction in
fiscal year was 15,129,000 tons,
pared with 11,132,000 tons in the
fiscal year. an increase of al

nage last
; of heavy
Atlantic
'mmodity
the past
as cornm-
previous
Most 40

percent.
West-East Shipments Drop
There was a slight decrease last year in
the amount of cargo shipped from the
Pacific to the Atlantic from the previous
year's figures.
The amount of mineral oil shipped
through the Canal last year from the
Atlantic to the Pacific was more than
double the tonnage of the See page 18)

STATISTICS ON CANAL TRAFFIC
For the purpose of comparison between pre-war and post-war traffic through the Panama Canal, statistics for
the fiscal year 1938 are used in this section, as being more nearly normal for peace time than those for 1939.

THE PANAMA

CANAL REVIEW

August 1,1952

Canal

Celebrates

38th

Anniversary

August

15

Early

ransits

Listed

The Panama Canal will observe its 38th
birthday on August 15 as an interoceanic
link for commercial ship traffic.
The inaugural voyage for the new chan-
nel was made August 15, 1914 by the
Panama Railroad steamer Ancon with a
cargo of freight for transshipment at
Balboa and about 200 specially invited
guests. The Ancon made the voyage from
deep water in the Atlantic to deep water
in the Pacific, the trip requiring the entire
day. The ship discharged its cargo at
Balboa and returned through the Canal
eight days later.
Although the Ancon's trip was listed as
the first commercial transit, it was not the
first self-propelled vessel to make the trip
nor the first cargo to be shipped through
the Canal between the two oceans.
The first transit by a self-propelled
vessel was made by the craneboat Alex
LaValley on January 7, 1914. The crane-
boat had been in use at the Atlantic en-
trance, but was moved to Culebra (now
Gaillard) Cut for some work. After com-
pleting the work there, it was sent to the
Pacific side rather than back to Cristobal.
Many Inquiries Received
Many inquiries are received from time
to time concerning the first trips through
the Canal by various types of vessels. A
summary of this information was com-
piled and printed in THE PANAMA CANAL
RECORD in the September 15, 1933 issue.
The summary, except for the description
of the Alex LaValley's trip, follows:
"On February 1,1914, the tug Reliance,
passing through Gatun Locks, completed
a voyage around South America; it had
sailed from Colon for Balboa via the
Strait of Magellan on February 11, 1912,
and arrived at Balboa on June 17, 1912.
"On May 18, 1914, three barges loaded
with sugar transferred to them at Balboa
from the steamer Alaskan were towed as
far as the lower end of Pedro Miguel
Locks; and their transit, after a change of
towboats, was completed at 9 p. m. on
May 19. This was the first handling of
cargo through the Canal.
"On May 19, 1914, the tug Mariner
towed two empty barges through the
Canal from Cristobal to Balboa. arriving

sit of an ocean steamship in
service. The ship discharge(
Balboa and returned through
to Cristobal on August 23.
"On August 15, 1914, fol
departure of the Ancon, train
Canal was begun by the
Arizonan of the American-HaM

commercial
d cargo at
the Canal

lowing the
nsit of the
steamship
raiian Line,

leaving Cristobal at 10:23 a. m.; this
vessel completed transit on the following
day, passing Balboa at 4:10 p. m., August
16. The Arizonan carried cargo. The
yacht Lasata, owned by Morgan Adams,
started transit through the Canal appar-
ently about 1 p. m., August 15, and com-
pleted transit at 5:35 p. m. on the 17th.
The steamship Missourian of the Ameri-
can-Hawaiian Line, carrying cargo, left
Cristobal at 2 p. m. on August 15 and
passed Balboa at 11:05 a. m. August 17.
First Northbound Transits
"The Pleiades, of the Luckenbach
Steamship Company, transited the Canal
on August 16, 1914, from Pacific to At-
lantic. She left Balboa at 6:50 a. m. and
arrived at Cristobal at 5:30 p. m. the same

day. The Pleiades was
Pennsylvanian of the Am,
Line, which left Balboa
August 16, and arrived
8:50 a. m., August 17.
"These early transits
chant vessels may be
follows:

Normal Commercial Transits
(Atlantic to Pacific)
Arizonan, began transit August 15 at
10:23 a. m.; arrived at opposite terminal
August 16 at 4:10 p. m.
Lasata, began transit August 15 at 1
p. m.; arrived at opposite terminal August
17 at 5:35 p. m.
Missourian, began transit August 15 at
2 p. m.; arrived at opposite terminal Au-
gust 17, 11:05 a. m.
Pacific to Atlantic
Pleiades, began transit August 16 at
6:30 a. m.; arrived at opposite terminal
August 16 at 5:30 p. m.
Pennsylvanian, began transit August 16
at 9:40 a. m.; arrived at opposite terminal
August 17 at 8:50 a. m.
"From the foregoing it may be stated
that the first self-propelling, ocean-going
vessel to pass through the Canal was the
LaValley, completing transit on January
7, 1914; the first passage of commercial
cargo was on May 18-19, 1914; the first
vessel to make a direct, continuous voy-
age from ocean to ocean through the
Canal was the tug Mariner on May 19,
1914; the first regular merchant vessel to
transit the Canal in commercial service
was the Ancon on August 15, 1914; and
the first merchant vessel to use the Canal
on a voyage between ports beyond the
Canal terminals was the Arizonan on Au-
gust 15-16, 1914."
Other commercial vessels which trans-
ited during the first few days the Canal
was open included the Arizonian, Ken-
tuckian, and Montanan, of the American-
Hawaiian Steamship Company, and the
Santa Catalina, of the W. R. Grace and
Company, all northbound; and the
Missourian, American-Hawaiian Line,
the Isabella, Luckenbach Line, and
Admiral Dewey, of the Pacific-Alaska
Navigation Company, all southbound.

I ~. ->.

August 1,1952

THE PANAMA CANAL REVIEW

w

Canal

world

Traffic

Changes

Figures

During

Show

Past

25

ears

Some of the vast economic and politi-
cal changes which have taken place in the
world during the past quarter century are
indicated min comparative statistics on
Panama Canal traffic for the fiscal years
1929 and 1952, the two peak years in its
38 years of operation.
Most of the Canal records for commer-
cial shipping established in the fiscal year
1929 were broken during the past fiscal
year. New records were set last year in
the number of large, ocean-going commer-
cial vessels, the net tonnage of commercial
shipping, and the amount of cargo shipped
through the Canal.
Comparative figures on transits, ton-
nage of vessels, amount of cargo and tolls
are shown in the accompanying chart at
the bottom of this page for the two peak
years.
The amount of tolls collected on ocean-
going commercial vessels using the Canal
last year was nearly $200,000 under the
tolls for the fiscal year 1929, even though
the number of vessels and the aggregate
net tonnage of these vessels were higher
last year. This variance was caused by
the change in the rules of measurement
and rate of tolls which was made in 1938.
Economic and Political Changes
Although most of the principal statis-
tics on Canal traffic for the two years are
within a comparative range, the changes
which have taken place in the world's
economic and political pattern are re-
vealed in more detailed statistics for
the two years on cargo shipped over the
various trade routes, commodity tonnage
figures, and the nationality of vessels
using the Canal.
Some of the major changes in the move-

ment of cargo over the principal trade
routes as shown in the comparative sta-
tistics for 1929 and 1952 are the following:
The cargo shipments in the United
States intercoastal trade last year were
less than half of those in 1929;
Shipments of commodities between the
east coast of the United States and the
Far East last fiscal year were almost triple
those of 1929;
Cargo tonnage moved over the trade

route between Europe and Australia in
1952 was more than double that of 1929.
South American Trade Doubles
And, the South American trade has
almost doubled within the 23-year period
over the routes through the Canal to the
East Coast of the United States and to
Europe.
The following shows the relative posi-
tion of the ten leading (Continud on page t)

with 505,00(
Increased
last fiscal y
totals on all
through the
the United
which drop
in 1951 to
The heavi
last year we

Stones in the fiscal year 1951.
cargo tonnage was reported
ear over the previous year's
of the principal trade routes
Canal with the exception of
States intercoastal trade,
ed from 5,731,000 long tons
1,279,000 tons last year.
iest gains in cargo shipments
re shown on the trade routes

between the east coast of the United
States and the Far East; the United
States and Canada east coast and Austral-
asia; Europe and the west coast of the
United States and Canada; and Europe
and Australasia. Lesser gains were shown
on the routes between the east coast of the
United States and Central America;
Europe and South America; and the east
coast of the United States arid South
America.

TRAFFIC MOVEMENT OVER MAIN TRADE ROUTES
The following table shows the cargo shipments, in thousands of long tons, of large,
commercial vessels (300 net tons or over) segregated into eight main trade routes:

The number of nationalities represented
in the commercial shipping moved through
the Canal increased from 24 in 1929 to
34 last year. Flags in Canal traffic last
year which were not listed in 1929 in-
cluded those of Brazil, China, Ecuador,
Guatemala, Honduras, Iceland, Iran,
Eire, Liberia, Nicaragua, Philippines,
Portugal, Switzerland, and Venezuela.
Among the flags listed in 1929 which
were not represented mn the 1952 traffic
were those of Belgium, Cuba, Danzig,
and Yugoslavia.
The major shift in the nationality of
vessels was indicated by the number of
ships under flags last year which were not
listed in 1929. Of the 6,524 transits by
ocean-going commercial vessels last year,
more than 800, or more than one-eighth
of this traffic, were under flags not listed
in the 1929 Canal transit records.

Most Former Canal Traffic Records
Are Broken In Past 12-Year Period
(Continued from pogz 15) previous year.

United States IntercoastaL ..--........
East Coast of U. S. and South America -- -
East Coast of U. S. and Central America _
East Coast of U. S. and Far East .---...
U. S./Canada East Coast and Australasia__
Europe and West Coast of U. S./Canada__
Europe and South America . .....

Europe and Australasia ....
All other routes .-------. .

Total Traffic-----..-----.. .

FISCAL YEAR

1952
4,279
5,098
528
6,146
1,634
5,970
1,706
2,478
5,772
33,611

1951
5,731
5,063
389
4,900
962
4,096
1,642
1,611
* 5,679
30,073

1938
6,395
2,652
46
4,850
992
4,237
2,974
1,251
3,989
27,386

Principal commodities shipped through the Canal
(All figures in thousands of long tons)
Figures in parentheses in 1938 and 1951 columns indicate
relative positions in those years
ATLANTIC TO PACIFIC

A 25 percent decrease in the amount of
cargo shipped through the Panama Canal
over the United States intercoastal route
from the previous fiscal year was one of
the most significant factors in the shipping
statistics of the fiscal year 1952, which
ended June 30.
The intercoastal trade has been the
most important of the Panama Canal
traffic in peacetime operation since the
waterway was opened. In most years it
has led all other of the trade routes in the
cargo tonnage figures.
The heavy decrease in the intercoastal
trade was reflected in comparative sta-
tistics with cargo tonnage moved over
other routes. During the past fiscal year
the tonnage moved over the intercoastal
route was the fourth highest, being ex-

ceeded by the tonnage on routes between
the east coast of the United States and
the Far East; Europe and the West Coast
of the United States and Canada; and the
East Coast of the United States and South
America.
Only 12% Of Total Tonnage
The amount of cargo moved over the
inter-coastal route during the past fiscal
year represented only 12 percent of the
total shipped through the Canal on all
routes.
During the late 1920's cargo tonnage
over the intercoastal route was approxi-
mately one-third of the total. In the five-
year period immediately proceeding World
War II the cargo shipped between Pacific
ports and those on the Gulf and Atlantic
seaboard constituted slightly more than
25 percent of the total. Throughout both
of these periods the cargo tonnage over
the intercoastal route was the highest of
any major trade route through the Canal.
This intercoastal trade-on a commer-
cial basis-was practically eliminated
during the past year when the War
Shipping Administration early in 1942
requisitioned all American flag vessels of
more than 1,000 tons burden.
The trade was gradually revived after
the close of the war with the release of
both dry cargo vessels and tankers for
commercial shipping. By the fiscal year
1949 cargo tonnage moved over the inter-
coastal route amounted to 3,091,000 long
tons out of a total of 24 30f000 nor an-.

vessels using the Canal in the fiscal years
1951 and 1952. There were 2,084 Ameri-
can flag ships listed in last years Canal
traffic, as compared with 2,203 in the

Inspect

Miraflores

fiscal year 1951. The total amount of
cargo shipped on these vessels was ap-
proximately 1,200,000 tons less in 1952
than the previous fiscal year.

Diesel

Plant

AN EXPLANATION of the work involved in the overhaul of one of the big Diesel power generators
at Miraflores Power Plant is being given to Colonel Craig Smyser, new Engineering and Construction
Director, left, in picture above, by Walter E. Benny, Mechanical Supervisor of the Power Branch on the
Pacific side. The visit to the Miraflores power station was one of many inspection trips Colonel Smyser
has made since his arrival early last month. He was accompanied on this trip by Col. George K. Withers,
(facing camera), whom he succeeds as head of the Engineering and Construction Bureau, who is scheduled
to leave today for his new assignment in Omaha, Nebr., and J. Bartley Smith, Electrical Engineer, right.

75 BOATS belonging to members of the Balboa Yacht Club anchor here in the Club's moorings on the east side of the Canal channel

Yacht Club of some 125

members is founded on the near-universal
appeal of fishing and faraway places and
the feeling for skippering your own good
boat to your choice of destinations.
On the Isthmus of Panama, nearly
surrounded with water and busy with
seagoing business, it is not surprising the
general fascination of boats has fostered
several such organizations.
Home port for the Balboa Club extends
from Navy Pier 2, reaching out toward
the Panama Canal channel from Fort
Amador, to the wartime mine dock just
inside the anchorage for ships entering the
Canal from the Pacific.
There, in the Club's moorings on the
east side of the channel, the members' 75-
odd boats lie at anchor, using only about
half of the waters assigned for their use
by the Panama Canal Marine Bureau.
Biggest of the boats that bob up and
down as the big ships stir the waters in
the channel is the Tondelayo, a 46-foot
sailing ketch owned by a Navy employee,
Walter E. (Wally) Pearson.
The Tondelayo raced to first place in
the Club's 1952 racing season and was
flagship last year when her owner was
the Club's Commodore.
"Waif" is Flagship
The flagship now is the Waif, a 16-foot
sailing sloop owned by a Balboa High
School instructor, Charles R. (Bob)
Bowen, who is now Commodore.
The former Navy Officers' Club at Fort
Amador has served as clubhouse for the
Yacht Club since 1946, when it was trans-
ferred by the Navy to the Yacht Club

from all parts of the world that put into
their hospitable pier.
Some visitors like the place so well-
like Lee and Ann Gregg off the ketch
Novia, and "Buzz" and June Champion
of the ketch Little Bear all of whom came
from San Diego-that they come ashore
and go to work and stay in the Canal Zone.
It sometimes works the other way.
Yacht Club members catch the fever of
faraway places and take their own boats
or join the crew of a visiting yacht bound
for a faroff atoll in the Pacific.
For instance, Mr. and Mrs. John W.
Litton and their small daughter left re-
cently in the ketch Calypso for the Society
Islands to visit the Kim Powells (Mrs.
Powell and Mrs. Litton are sisters), former
Yacht Club members who now make
their home in Tahiti.
Listed in Lloyd's Register
The Balboa Yacht Club enjoys full
recognition by other such clubs through-
out the world and is listed in Lloyd's. It
also is a member of the North American
Yacht Racing Union, and the Interna-
tional Game Fishing Association.
Among the visitors who use the Club's
facilities on a reciprocal basis are members
of the Panama Canal Yacht Club of
Cristobal and the Pedro Miguel and
Gamboa Boat Clubs, who visit most often
during the red snapper and corbina sea-
sons when they come to try their luck in
Panama Bay.
Fishing members of the Balboa Yacht
Club receive timely tips in a bulletin
issued monthly by the Club's Fishing

Committee, whose chairman is Sam R.
Moody. For instance, this month the
committee advises that sailfish and marlin
come into the inner bay in August and
that marlin are best baited with whole
bonita.
When the dry season winds blow strong
and steady, the Racing Committee goes
into action, scheduling races and cruising
picnics (luaus) and an annual treasure
hunt on Taboga or Taboguilla Island.
Bill Clark is Chairman of the Sail Yacht
Racing Committee.
Winners of Sail Races
In the last racing season, the Tondelayo
placed first; Bill Clark's Kdelpie, second;
Lee Greg's Novia., third: and Bill

Wymer's Kon
The Balboa
flown in several
States coasts.
Chiriqui, with

f �
Hiro, fourth.
Yacht Club burgee has
I ocean races off the United
Tucker McClure's ketch
his local manager, George

Bobbitt aboard, last year won the Class
"B" trophy, and was second on corrected
time for the Time Prize in the Los
Angeles-Honolulu Yacht Race.
Ed McIntosh's Starcrest has also com-
peted in winter races around Florida, the
most notable being the St. Petersburg-
Havana Ocean Race in 1950, in which
Starcrest placed third in Class "C."
The Balboa Yacht Club was organized
in 1946 from the remaining interested
members of the former Balboa Boat Club,
which operated before the war from the
present home base of the Yacht Club and
the Panama Bay Yacht Club, which
operated in Panama during the war.